SCRIPTURES: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Luke 8:4-8, 11-15
OBJECT: a healthy potted plant
This is our last talk about Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. You remember the farmer who sowed his seeds. Some fell on a hard, dry path; others on rocky soil; still others in a bunch of weeds. None of those seeds ever became the healthy plants.
But there were still the seeds that fell on good ground, just like the farmer intended for them to. What do the seeds represent? The gospel, the good news of Jesus’ death for our sins. Remember that we’ve learned there was never anything wrong with the seeds. The first two bunches didn’t have good soil to grow in. The third bunch was choked out by the weeds all around them.
And finally the good seed falls on good land, land where there were nutrients in the dirt that the seeds needed to grow. Land where the young plants could get plenty of sunshine and rain, and where they could find a place for their roots to take hold and hang on.
If the seed is the gospel, what does this mean for us? First, it means God wants us to grow as Christians, becoming more like Jesus the older we get. His Holy Spirit helps us day by day, much like the sunshine and the rain help the little plants. But we also need good soil. We need to have Christian friends and teachers who can help us understand the Bible. We need to read the Bible for ourselves. We need to pray every day and learn to trust God. And we need to worship with the church; that’s very important, too.
Good seed in good soil makes for a good, healthy plant like the one I’ve brought with me today. I hope and pray your lives will be strong and healthy in God, too.
